It is known to make smoking systems which use pipes to hold the tobacco for smoking instead of rolling a cigarette or buying ready-made cigarettes. It is also known to make the pipe so that it extinguishes itself after each puff. The SmokeLess Cigarette used in the Dugout Smoking System is an example of such a pipe and its related smoking system. Another example of a pipe for use with smoking material and its related system are described in Crow U.S. Pat. No. 4,214,658.
Such self-extinguishing pipes, however, have various drawbacks and shortcomings which ultimately reduce the user's comfort or enjoyment. For example, such extinguishing pipes generally accommodate only short, less effective filters, which at times results in a raw, bitter or otherwise harsh taste when smoke is inhaled.
Another drawback is that self-extinguishing pipes generally have filters located at the portions of the pipe inserted into the user's mouth. As such, the filter frequently comes in contact with the user's mouth or tongue, which causes discomfort to the user, especially when the filter is made of a gauzy material. When such a filter is used, it may become saturated with saliva or other foreign matter at the end closest to the user's mouth, further diminishing enjoyment of the smoking experience.
As still another disadvantage to such pipes, the filters are difficult to install in the pipes. The filters, generally formed of a resiliently compressible material, must be compressed by the user and stuffed through the mouthpiece of the pipe into position. This operation is time-consuming and may even require tweezers to assist in insertion of the filter, making the filters inconvenient to use.
An additional disadvantage is that if the filter is not carefully inserted, it may become cut, damaged, or otherwise lose its integrity from abrading against the mouthpiece of the pipe. The effectiveness of such filters, when damaged, is reduced.
Further drawbacks of current self-extinguishing pipes relate to the difficulty and discomfort in removing filters from the pipes. To remove a used filter, the user must resort to reaming out the filter by inserting a pipe cleaner through the pipe and pushing the filter out. The user generally must also grasp the filter at the end which was in contact with the user's mouth and has been soiled during the smoking process. The user is thus confronted with an unpleasant and inconvenient operation whenever a used filter needs to be removed from a pipe of the current art. Tar from the filter is sometimes inadvertently deposited on the mouthpiece because the filter passes through the mouthpiece during its removal. This, again, results in inconvenience or unpleasantness to the user.
Various additional disadvantages of current pipes relate to the structure of the self-extinguishing pipe apart from the filters used therein. Self-extinguishing pipes are often a single piece. Such a single-piece design makes ashes and any spent tobacco difficult to remove after use. The ashes and other spent material must be reamed out with a pipe cleaner, which, again, is both a time-consuming and messy process.
Current self-extinguishing pipes are disadvantageously constructed of a heat-conducting material, generally a metal. Although such a material resists melting, it makes the pipe far heavier than a traditional cigarette. Thus, users accustomed to holding cigarettes in the mouth or fingers find the heavier pipes clumsy to manipulate and thus distracting enough to interfere with enjoyment of smoking.
In addition, heat from the smoking material is often conducted down the length of the pipe to where the user is holding the pipe, or even as far as the user's mouth. Such heat potentially results, again, in a sharp diminution in smoking pleasure.
Thus, there is a need for a self-extinguishing pipe which is easily cleaned, safe, and comfortable. There is also a need for the pipe to be convenient to operate, namely by having the ashes and filter easily removable.